Boats of most types, due to their nature of being vehicles, which are often motorized and intended to be operated on open bodies of water, present numerous possible hazards. This is the reason that marinas commonly require customers who wish to dock a boat in a marina's slip to provide proof of a significant amount of liability insurance. The insurance is intended to protect the boat owner/operator and the marina from possible legal claims in the event of an accident involving the boat resulting in damage or harm to people and their property. One of these potential sources of damage, particularly involving physical injury to a human being, is presented by the anchor of a boat.
The new anchor enclosure described and claimed herein is the first such device of its type providing such useful safety applications. It requires no assembly after purchase and is simple and fast to install for use on a conventional boat anchor, as may be found in any commercial or private dock, on multiple types of watercraft. The new safety anchor enclosure device features a tough, water-resistant, weather-resistant highly reflective outer surface and a high-density, but light-weight and floatable, interior padding substance. The “clamshell” style structure of the new anchor enclosure is such that it can be quickly and easily, yet very securely applied to an anchor on a docked boat. It also permits facile removal from the site of use for storage on the dock, when leaving the slip, or even on board the boat, if preferred. The new enclosure device is a handy, compact, light-weight unit for ready accessibility and reapplication to the anchor of the boat at dock.
A boat anchor, by its nature is commonly a heavy, strong device attached to a boat for selective dropping into a body of water to prevent uncontrolled drift of the attached boat. For best function anchors generally are provided with multiple sharp edges which facilitate engagement of the anchor on the floor of the bottom of the body of water. However, when the anchor is raised at the bow of the boat and the boat is docked, the anchor can extend above the surface, inwardly toward the center of the dock, so as to present a significant hazard to persons moving about on the dock. For example, an inadvertent collision of a person's shin with an anchor could result in an extremely serious injury to the person's leg, resulting in a great deal of pain, loss of blood and at least temporary loss of use of the leg. Of course the potential for injury to a running child could be much worse.
Accordingly, there has been a long-felt need in the industry for an economically manufactured, yet very sturdy, protective safety device to protect people who may be unaware of a projecting anchor and who may easily come into dangerous contact therewith. The new device has a very acceptable cosmetic appearance, while still providing the owner of the boat and of the owner of the dock with significant risk reduction by reliably protecting people from harm due to contact with a boat anchor which has been covered by the new enclosure.
Moreover, the new safety anchor enclosure is easily applied to an anchor and secured thereto in such manner that the anchor is completely covered, and cannot inadvertently become dislodged from the anchor. The new device is substantially water-tight, weather-resistant and mildew resistant. The new anchor enclosure can even be locked onto the anchor in order to discourage theft of the anchor enclosure. Although the new anchor enclosure is light-weight enough to be readily carried by one person, even a child, it is not intended to be a portable item, because the anchor per se would not ordinarily be carried to and from the boat. Rather, the new anchor enclosure is intended to be kept on the boat anchor, operatively covering it, whenever the boat is either docked or in storage. At any other time the new enclosure is kept in storage on or near the dock, or even on the boat.
Thus, in keeping with the purpose and advantages of the invention, the present device is, briefly, a safety enclosure for a boat anchor to prevent injury to persons moving about in the vicinity of the anchor when the boat is docked. The safety anchor enclosure has an openable top, and a bottom which is flexible along a longitudinal axis of the bottom. A first side extends from the top to the bottom and a second side opposite the first side also extends from the top to the bottom. A first end extends over an area defined by aft edges of the top, the bottom, the first side and the second side. A second end opposite the first end extends over an area defined by forward edges of the top, the bottom, the first side and the second side. The first end is positioned aft and defines an opening for receiving the shaft of an anchor on a boat. The second end is positioned forward when the enclosure is in operative position enclosing the anchor of a boat. The safety anchor enclosure is formed of at least one sheet of a durable, pliable material sufficiently strong to withstand repeated flexing and continual contact with heavy, sharp metal of a type forming an anchor of a boat. There enclosure material is also padded thickly enough to prevent serious harm to a person who movingly contacts the safety enclosed anchor. The safety anchor enclosure also has at least one mechanism for securing the enclosure in a closed configuration when it is in operative position on the anchor of a boat.
The invention is also, briefly, the above safety anchor enclosure, wherein the openable top has a first portion and a second portion. The first top portion and the second top portion are similarly sized and shaped, and each has a forward edge and an aft edge. The first top portion and the second top portion each have an inner edge not connected to the inner edge of the other top portion; and each have an outer edge. The first top portion and the second top portion are positioned side by side, with the openable top being closed when the anchor enclosure is in a closed configuration around an anchor.
The invention is also, briefly, the described enclosure, wherein the first side and the second side each have an upper edge and a lower edge. The first side is positioned port and the second side is positioned starboard when the safety enclosure is in normal operative position enclosing the anchor of a boat. Further, the outer edge of the first top portion is connected to upper edge of the first/port side and the outer edge of the second top portion is connected to the upper edge of the second/starboard side.
The invention is still further, briefly the safety anchor enclosure above, wherein the enclosure bottom has an aft edge, a forward edge, a port edge and a starboard edge, in relation to the position of the safety enclosure in normal use position. The enclosure bottom has an internal hinge extending from the aft end to the forward end along a central longitudinal axis of the enclosure bottom to facilitate longitudinal flexing of the bottom. The first end of the enclosure and the second end of the enclosure are each divided longitudinally into a first/port end portion and a second/starboard end portion. The first and second end portions of each end are formed of similar sizes and shapes as the other portion of the respective pair. The first portion and the second portions of each of the first/aft end and the second/forward end each have an upper edge, a lower edge, an inner edge, and an outer edge, the inner edges of each end portion pair being adjacent in the operative enclosure position, but selectively separable from one another. The inner edges of the first aft end portions are substantial mirror images of each other, each defining a half of an opening, so as to form a complete opening when the first aft end portions' inner edges are adjacent. Constructed in this manner, the upper edge of the first aft end portion is connected to the aft edge of the first/port top portion, and the upper edge of the second aft end portion is connected to the aft edge of the second/starboard top portion. The lower edges of both the first and second aft end portions connect side-by-side to the aft edge of the enclosure bottom. The outer edge of the first aft end portion is connected to the aft edge of the port side and the outer edge of the second aft end portion is connected to the aft edge of the starboard side. Moreover, the upper edge of the first forward end portion is connected to the forward edge of the first/port top portion, and the upper edge of the second forward end portion is connected to the forward edge of the second/starboard top portion. The lower edges of both the first and second aft end portions connect side by side to the forward edge of the enclosure bottom. The outer edge of the first forward end portion is connected to the forward edge of the port side and the outer edge of the second forward end portion is connected to the forward edge of the starboard side. Further, the upper edge of the second/forward end portion connects to the forward edge of the second top portion, and the upper edge of the starboard side connects to the outer edge of the second top portion, and the aft edge of the second top portion connects to the upper edge of the second/aft end portion. So constructed, the safety anchor enclosure has one continuous selectively separable line of intersection of the two aft end portions, the two top portions and the two forward end portions contiguously with the internal hinge formed in the enclosure bottom, to thereby permit the safety anchor enclosure to be easily, repeatedly, and selectively opened and closed in a clamshell manner to enclose an anchor on a boat for safety at a boat dock, and to be selectively removed from the anchor when the boat is to leave the dock.
Further details and features of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the drawings, detailed description and specific examples herein, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
Throughout the drawings like parts are indicated by like element numbers. Not all elements are shown in all drawings.